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I found that entertaining enough to watch it all. Thanks for posting. One observation.......... at 5000+ feet elevation, you will be leaning the airplane (right after startup, throughout the warm up, taxi, climb cruise & descent), whether it's a Cessna, Piper, Van's RV ,etc. I got the impression you no longer live in northern Utah. At KSLC, South Valley (previously Airport #2), Bountiful Skypark and others at the 4200'-4600' agl altitude, we'll always be leaning. The checklists, at flight schools here, don't call for full rich, as they do at many other lower altitude airports. A Cessna knob will be somewhere between 1/2 & 3/4" pulled out, until adjusted before takeoff. When the airplane isn't leaned, it will become noticeable, just for taxi. Very noticeable for takeoff.

As for Monument Valley, I love the area. We'd fly down with a group of airplanes, every year in mid- October. The sky would still be blue, temps warm, and the summer rush gone. The hotel still usually fills, though. We'd have a nice lunch at the hotel, visit the museum & gift shops, then stay the night. Next morning (as the rising sun gives a fiery red glow to the rocks), we'd head on down to Sedona Arizona, for lunch, then back to Page, Arizona/ Lake Powell for a few days. This route skirts the Grand Canyon, as it follows the Colorado River. A lot of this is also covered with Orbx scenery.

Lake Powell, as it heads northeast with it's 190 mile shoreline, is awesome from the air. We'd fly the lake a hundred plus miles, to the confluence of the Colorado & Green rivers, then to the Moab / Canyon Land area, which is known for Arches & Dead Horse point. IMO, it's still some of the best scenery by air, in the entire world!

Since you know the area, one morning, in my Vans RV6, I lifted off the runway at Page, Arizona at 8:05 am. Utah time. With a tailwind, I skirted the west side of Zions Canyon, following I-15 to Airport #2 (10 miles south of KSLC). We opened the hangar door, at 9:40 am. I had an average 235 mph ground speed. Not bad for an engine, the size of one in a Cessna 172 (180HP). Of course, the RV , being lighter and designed for two people, can cruise in the 180 mph range.

Having an airplane was great! Yellowstone & Jackson Hole Wyoming was only a few hours to the north. The Grand Canyon, Zions, Bryce, Lake Powell, & Monument Valley were only a few hours to the south. A scenic paradise! Happily, a lot of this is recreated with Orbx scenery for FSX/P3D. X-Plane 10 also does a great job of recreating areas such as Lake Powell, right out of the box. A landmark, which shows well in both sims, is Navajo Mtn. This is located on the east side of Lake Powell, and you'll fly by it, on the way to Monument Valley from Page. Rainbow Bridge, which is a 300+' sandstone arch, is at the base of Navajo Mountain, which is also considered sacred to the native american population, and should be respected as so. It's sacred to me too. I truly love the mountains & deserts of this part of the USA. Since I no longer fly, flight simming is the next best thing, for air travel in the area. Did manage by car.................last week. That reddish orange glowing rock, just continues to get to me!

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